Box Score

 NAPERVILLE, Ill. – The UW-Stevens Point women's basketball team scored the first eight points of tonight's game and never trailed on its way to defeating North Central College 81-64 at Gregory Arena.

 The victory gives the Pointers a 4-0 record this season, while North Central suffers its first setback of the season falling to 3-1. The Pointers have won all four meetings against the Cardinals all-time.

 Stevens Point's Haley Houghton (Wausau/Wausau East) (Sr.-Wausau/East) must likes playing against North Central as she had a career-high 19 points last season against the Cardinals and scored seven of the first 11 points for the Pointers tonight as they took an 11-2 lead with 16:14 left in the first half. With the score 14-6 at 14:31 the Pointers used a 9-0 run to lengthen their lead to 23-6 after a Jesirae Heuer (Wisconsin Rapids/Wisconsin Rapids Lincoln) (Sr.-Wisconsin Rapids/Lincoln) layup with 11:13 remaining in the first half. The lead got as high as 17 in the first half following an Ali Nicastro (Mondovi/Mondovi) (Sr.-Mondovi) layup. Stevens Point went into halftime with a 44-28 advantage.

 The Pointers scored 15 points off of Cardinals turnovers and outscored North Central 13-2 on second chance points. Stevens Point shot 57 % in the first half, while the Cardinals were held to just 41 %.

 North Central got the lead down to 11 with over 18 minutes left to play, but the Pointers then went on a 10-0 run to make the score 56-35 with 16:35 left to play in the game. Stevens Point continued to build its lead in the second half, getting it as high as 26 after an Ashley Windt (Hurley/Hurley) (Jr.-Hurley) three-pointer with less than nine minutes to play. The Cardinals ended the game on an 8-0 run to make the final score 81-64 Stevens Point.

 The Pointers shot 53 % from the field for the game and were 11-for-13 from the free throw line. Stevens Point dominated the boards, out-rebounding the Cardinals 37-22.

 Houghton and Chelsea Kranz (Columbus/Columbus) (Sr.-Columbus) each had a team-high 18 points. Houghton was 4-of-5 from beyond the three-point line. Kranz was a perfect 5-for-5 from the free throw line and led the Pointers with six rebounds. Jessi Sporle (Mineral Point/Mineral Point) (Jr.-Mineral Point) was the only other Pointer in double-figures as she tied a career-high with 11 points off the bench. Laura Neuenfeldt (Two Rivers/Two Rivers) (Sr.-Two Rivers) led the Pointers with five assists. Barb Williams had a game-high 20 points for North Central.

 The Pointers will face another College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin (CCIW) opponent tomorrow when they face Wheaton College. The tip-off is scheduled for 2 p.m.